Ikea has created an augmented reality app for customers to trial new products from the comfort of their own home.
Ikea will soon be leading the way in modern-day shopping experiences with a its new 2014 catalogue app which allows customers to virtually place products around their homes and see how they look from their smartphone screen. Around 90 products will be available for customers to try out, ranging from sofas and chairs to beds and bookcases, so their size, shape and colour can be "tested" before purchased.

The app will be launched alongside Ikea's digital catalogue and it will be available on both iOS and Android formats. The catalogue is placed on the floor and, using the smartphone camera, the app can judge all approximate scales and sizes of a product and incorporate it into the customer's real-life home surroundings. An augmented reality image then shows how the piece of furniture looks in the particular room they are in.

Ikea says the app was created after research showed that more than 70% of customers do not really know how big their own rooms are and 14% have bought the wrong-sized furniture in the past.

Peter Wright, Ikea UK and Ireland country marketing manager, told Marketing Week: "Our customers want to be able to test out whether the products they've been inspired by in our catalogue will work in their own homes - particularly when it comes to larger pieces of furniture."

The app is due to be launched in Apple's App Store and the Google Play store on August 25.